Laundry machine safety release



Sept. 8, 1931. J. P. SHEA LAUNDRY MACHINE SAFETY RELEASE Filed Sept. 25, 1928 .WWL. I

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Patented Sept. 8, 1231 UNITED STATES} JAMES P. SHEA, 0! FOREST PARK, ILLINOIS LAUNDRY MACHINE SAFETY RELEASE Application filed September 25, 1928. Serial No. 308,235;

My invention has relation to laundry machines, such as wringers, mangles and ironing machines, and has a'special relation to safety devices for releasing the pressure between the laundering elements such as the wringer rolls.

One object of my invention is to provide a laundering machine in which the safety release mechanism is actuable by an operator moving the laundering elements bodily.

Another object of my invention is to provide such a machine with driving connections from a static-nary source of power which permits the laundering elements to be moved bodily while the machine is in operation, thus actuating. safety release mechanism.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the description proceeds.

Referring to the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a laundry machine embodying my invention;

Figs. 2, 3, and 4, are sectional views taken on the lines 22, 33, and 44 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of a modified form of the driving connections shown in Fig. 1.

Upper and lower rolls 1 and 2 are mounted to rotate in upper and lower frames 3 and 4 respectively, the upper frame being pivoted to the lower by means of a hinge 5.

The lower frame is provided with a housing 6 for a shaft 7 which is journaled in said frame and connected to the lower roll. The housing is provided with lugs 8 which are mounted on pivots 10 on the top and bottom walls of an additional housing or support 11. The upright sides of the two housings meet on a curved line as shown in Fig. 2 so that there may be relative movement thercbetween about the pivots 10.

The upper frame has a lug 12 thereon which is normally held under a keeper 12 on the support 11. This holds down the upper frame which has a spring 13 therein resting at its ends on bearing blocks Hand thus pressing the upper roll agamst the lower. A screw 15 may be .turned by hand to vary the force of the spring.

The shaft 7 is connected by a universal joint 15, which is aligned with the pivots 10, to a shaft 16 journaled in the housing 11 and coupled by gears 17 to a drive shaft 18 also journaled in the housing 11. A clutch 2O operable by a lever 21 may be shifted on the drive shaft 17 for reversing the direction of drive of the shafts 16' and 7. The shaft 17 may be driven by a stationary source of power such as a motor (not shown) and the housing may have a mounting 22 on an additional support such as a washing machine casing 23.

In the operation of the device articles are fed manually to the rolls and are drawn between them by their rotary movement. If it is desired to release the roll pressure for any reason such, for instance, as the accidental catching of the operators hand between the rolls, this can be done instantly by the operator merely swinging the rolls and their frames about the pivots 10 thus releasing the lug 12 introduced under the keeper 12. In the event 8 that the spring 13 is under high compression it may be relieved by the screw 15 to facili tate the movement of the lug under the keeper. The frames are then swung to operative position and in their pivotal movement the lug 12 which has a downwardly inclined upper surface forces the upper frame downwardly. As shown in Fig. 4 the lower surface of the keeper is made concave so the lug 12 will be held therein and accidental swinging of the frames will be prevented.

As a further assurance against accidental swinging of the frames, the driving connections may be modified as shown in Fig. 5. In this construction a sleeve 26, which. is a part of the-universal joint 15', is slidably mounted on the shaft 16 and has an opening 27 therein having "a pair of oppositely disposed cam faces 28 against which a pin 3O on the shaft is engageable. The action of the pin against one of the cam faces is to draw the sleeve in the direction of the arrow. Thus the torque tends to cause the shaft 7 to approach the shaft 16 and tends to oppose swinging movement of the frames about the pivots 10.

The described devices may be incorporated ily movement of a roll and said element sub-- stantially as described.

Likewise other types of flexible drives may be substituted for the particular universal joint illustrated.

The invention is not limited to the specific features of the construction shown, which may be modified in various ways, and a sub stantial range of equivalents is contemplated within the scope of the accompanying claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a laundry machine, the combination of a pair of laundering members, one of which is a roller mounted for rotation relatively to the. other, for feeding articles therebetween and thus performing a laundering operation on said articles, means for rotating said rollor including a drive shaft movable about a fixed axis and a flexible connection permitting pivotal movement of said members, means supporting said members for pivotal movement, and means for holding said members in operative relation, said holding means being releasable on the pivotal movement of said members by an operator.

2. In a laundry machine, the combination of a pair of laundering members one of which is a roller mounted for rotation relatively to the other for feeding articles therebetween and thus performing a laundering operation on said articles, a support on which said roller is mounted for rotary movement, a second support on which said first support is pivoted, means for rotating said roller including a shaft rotating on said second support and a driving connection from said shaft to said roller, said connection being flexible to permit the first mentioned support to move pivotally, and means for holding said members in operative relation, said means being releasable when the first mentionedsupport is moved pivotally with respect to said second support to permit one of said members to separate from the other.

3. In a wringer, the combination of a pair of rolls, a lower frame on which one of said rolls is mounted for rotation, an upper frame on which the other of said rolls is mounted for rotation, said upper frame being pivoted to move towards and away from said lower frame, a spring in said upper frame for forc-' ing said other roll downwardly, a support on which said lower frame is mounted for pivotal movement about a vertical axis, a keeper on said support, a portion of said upper frame being engageable with said keeper for holding said upper frame in operative relation to said lower frame, and a drive shaft on said support having a flexible connection with said one of said rolls, said frame being movable by an operator to disengage said portion from said keeper and permit separation of said frames.

4. In a wringer the combination of a pair of rolls, a support, a two-part frame in which said rolls are mounted for rotation, resilient means for pressing one of said rolls against the other, one of said frame parts being pivoted on saidfsupport and the other frame part being movable away from said one of said frame parts to release the pressure between said rolls, a drive-shaft adjacent said support having a flexible connection with one of said rolls so as to permit s id frame to be swung about the pivot on said support, and means for holding said frame parts in operative relation but releasable on the pivotal movement of said parts to permit seperating movement between said parts.

5. In a wringer the combination of a pair of rolls, a support, a rigid member movably mounted on said support and holding one of said rolls for rotation in the normal operation of the wringer, a second rigid member for holding the other roll for rotation, resilient means for urging one of said rolls against the other, a drive-shaft having a flexible connection with one of said rolls and means for holding said second rigid member in ope-ra-,

my name.

JES P. SHEA.

exible connection being operative to 

